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Religions
Zaros is the mysterious god of control.33 Zaros is also known as the Empty Lord, associated with fate, and associated with the mastery of shadows. Zaros is one of the two known gods to be the creation of an Elder God, not an ascended mortal. At the peak of his power he was the strongest (aside from Guthix) god before being overthrown and banished by Zamorak in the late Second Age. Before being overthrown however, he ruled over most of the land in Gielinor, with numerous fortresses placed strategically throughout his lands, only one of which still stands. He is recognised to be very powerful, with his name striking fear into both Saradominand Zamorak even after thousands of years of his passing. Zaros, along with Seren, are the two oldest of the ascendant gods, both of them being nearly as old as the universe. Nowadays, Zaros has few followers, since most of them defected to Zamorak or were exterminated, although he still has a faction of Mahjarrat that aided in his return. Until recently, he was incorporeal, having cast off his body to evade death at the hands of Zamorak. Seren is the crystal goddess of peace and growth as well as the divine aspect of the Anima Mundi. She is worshipped in Tirannwn, being the patron goddess of the elves. She is the only god, other than Guthix, who is known to have arrived on the realm of Gielinor in the First Age, and one of the only goddesses to have been on Gielinor outside the Desert Pantheon. She and Guthix had close relations during the First Age though it is unknown if it extended beyond a platonic relationship. Guthix had come to her homeworld before the First Age while he was looking for the perfect world. According to the Book of Seren, after he found Gielinor, he invited her and the elves to come with him to share it and she gladly accepted the chance to explore another world. By the end of the First Age, Guthix asked her to leave Gielinor to the elves and the other mortal races, but she loved the elves too much to comply though she promised Guthix she would not interfere with the mortals, and that she would join him in the future, when the time would come. When the Edicts of Guthix were set, he gave her no choice but to leave (so as to remove all the influence of the gods), and she decided to scatter herself across the forest of Isafdar to remain with her people. She has not been seen since. In the quest Fate of the Gods, it is revealed that she, along with Zaros, were created by Mah on Freneskae. She spent a period of time on Freneskae, trying to soothe her "mother"'s nightmares, but eventually left in search of the other Elder Gods, in the hopes that they might mend Mah. Seren is also known to be "cursed" by Mah along with Zaros, causing all those who spend time with her to adore her. Guthix was the god of balance and the most powerful known ascendant god. He was also the discoverer of Gielinor after the Elder Gods created it. With the Stone of Jas and other artifacts Guthix created the runecrafting altars and the runes, and, using his sword, another artefact, he created the Portal of Life, the gateway which he used to allow the different races into Gielinor, starting with the humans, gnomes, fairies and dwarves. Although Guthix originally was thought to have no specific gender, he was referred to as male and appeared as a skull with tendrils on the scalp. It is now known that he was a Naragi. He gained his powers when he was a mortal during wars that various gods fought over his homeworld. The gods Skargaroth and Tuska had just had an enormous fight with each other which ended with Skargaroth, knocked unconscious, crushing Guthix's house and his daughter Aagi, after which Guthix took his sword. He stabbed Tuska in her last remaining eye, blinding her and absorbing some of her power. He then stabbed Skargaroth in the back, killing him and absorbing his power. He later took the sword, and discovered that it could open portals between worlds. He discovered the Dwarven Homeworld, Zanaris, and Seren's Homeworld, along with many others. He gained the majority of his power when he was on Gielinor, where he discovered three Elder Artefacts. He shaped it and went into a slumber, hoping to be forgotten, fearing he would otherwise become as horrible as Tuska or Skargaroth. He only awoke to end the God Wars, defeating and banishing multiple gods from the realm and keeping them out with the Sword of Edicts, which he created. He wept, appointed Guardians of Guthix and went to sleep again, with no god being able to interfere with life on Gielinor again due to the Edicts. Saradomin is the god of order and wisdom. He is often portrayed as an old, bald man with a long beard, a homage to his human heritage. Many Saradominist NPCs, such as Padomenes, claim that he is the god of good, despite his status, as confirmed by Jagex, as the god of order. His following consists mainly of humans and Icyene. His symbol is a four-tipped star, and the colours that represent him are blue, white, and sometimes gold. He is the owner of an Elder Artefact called the Crown Archival. Along with Zaros, he is one of the oldest of the ascendant gods and has played a major role in the history of many realms. Most notably, he invaded the Naragi realm and destroyed their city of Askroth. His crown later brought him to Gielinor, searching for more artifacts. He was the main adversary of Zamorak during the God Wars, which the latter declared because Saradomin had stolen the Stone of Jas from him. He is incredibly old, having been a god for well over ten millennia. Zamorak is the god of chaos and arguably the most infamous for being the initiator of the God Wars. He is often regarded as a god of evil by non-Zamorakian humans, however this is typically seen as bias. He was originally a Mahjarrat who rebelled against Zaros after years of service as a general due to the stagnation he saw in the Zarosian Empire. During this betrayal of Zaros, Zamorak managed to stab Zaros with the Staff of Armadyl and absorbed some of his powers, although the struggle with Zaros nearly killed him. After the battle at Zaros's palace, Zamorak, having defeated his former master by luck, achieved godhood shortly after. He then went to Pandemonium, the world of demons, to fulfill his promise to the Avernic demons by liberating them from the Chthonic demons, but returned and declared war against Saradomin and Armadyl to reclaim the Staff of Armadyl and Stone of Jas they stole from him after he left Gielinor starting the God Wars of the Third Age. Armadyl is the god of justice who ruled the skies and the birds of Gielinor before leaving the planet after the God Wars. He was also an ally of Saradomin, and united with him during the God Wars. It is said that he wept and abandoned Gielinor to roam the multiverse after his 'precious children', the aviantese, a race to which he also belongs, were slain during the war, although a few of them still exist in the God Wars Dungeon. He doesn't have many followers in the current age and for that reason, has been forgotten by most of the individuals that live on Gielinor. The Staff of Armadyl was named after him and he derived his symbol from it. Until its theft in the Fifth Age, the staff was guarded by the Guardians of Armadyl, though the Aviantese had possession of it before. Bandos was the god of war with little other goal than to constantly revel in battle and bloodshed. Most of his followers were unintelligent races such as ogres, goblins, orks and hobgoblins. He was known to his followers as Big High War God and is usually only referred to as Bandos by his higher ranking followers. He arrived in Gielinor just after the God Wars commenced, eager to join the battle with his powerful followers (ourgs, raurgs and fayrgs). Apparently, the races that served him did not exist on Gielinor before his arrival and he brought them with him by force from Yu'biusk, a plane where most his followers originated, but he destroyed after he was banished. Bandos attempted to work around the Edicts and return to Gielinor in the Fifth Age, but his plans were thwarted. While many justifiably viewed Bandos as manipulative, selfish, and sadistic, Bandos believes that only the strong deserve to be rewarded and the weak can either serve as thoughtless weapons to the strong or fight to overthrow the strong, through which become strong themselves. This attitude extends to his followers who he claims he will not help nor feel empathy towards those he views as weak. Most gods have a set of strongly held core beliefs that serve as answers for important personal and societal questions, varying from purely practical to even existential in nature, about how to live one's life. These are often referred to as the god's (moral) alignment8 or their philosophy.910 Sometimes gods are referred to "the god of something", for instance: "Bandos, the god of war". However, it is important to note that this is not a causal relationship, but should rather be seen as a relationship of affinity and association. This means that, for instance, if Bandos were to be killed, there could still be war.11 Furthermore, it is important to note that, while their philosophies are often expressed in a few words, this is a crude simplification of their views which are often more complicated. Some philosophies can be very similar, possibly differing only on some small points or emphasis.12 Furthermore, since these alignments or philosophies are not causal or clearly unique in nature, these "titles" are basically subjective. They can and are often used as a basis for promoting gods and their ideals. These subjective notions are tools in the public relations of the gods to their own followers and other people, not just inhabitants ofGielinor, as gods often have travelled to many other planes.13 It seems to be the case that gods and their followers have one or two primary terms to summarise or characterise their philosophy and a few secondary terms to elaborate on this. The primary term is mostly, if not always, used to describe the god's philosophy, while the secondary terms are used less frequently. For example, Armadyl's alignment is primarily characterised as 'justice' and secondarily described with terms such as 'liberty',14 and the god of avians and the sky.15Saradomin is always referred to as the god of order, and to a lesser extent wisdom, pleasantry, purity/purification, and light15161718. Naturally, since these philosophies are subjective, they are also subject to change, as can be seen with Armadyl's often cited naivety in his dealings with other gods, which changed some time after the expected extinction of his belovedAviansie by Zamorak.1920 It should also be noted that a god's level of power is important to this, as it can very well change their goals, methods and appreciations.21 (I own no rights to this content/lore, this was greatuflly given to me by the runescape fan/community wiki and all credit goes to them. I decided to use it because of its application to Roleplay and its identification of Philosophys http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Gods ) Category:Zarosianism Category:Guthixianism Category:Saradominism Category:Bandosianism Category:Zamorakianism Category:Armadylean Category:Serenist